GM still uses XP, and is considering “bypassing Vista”

Companies like General Motors (GM) are trying to figure out if they should …

General Motors (GM), the world's fourth largest company in terms of revenue, might be going down a path that would make Microsoft very unhappy. According to an interview between BusinessWeek and GM's Chief Systems & Technology Officer Fred Killeen, the company may choose to wait for the next version of Windows: "We're considering bypassing Vista and going straight to Windows 7."

The reason for this decision, according to Kileen, is that GM's software vendors haven't ensured all their programs will run on Vista and many of GM's PCs can't even handle Vista. The company would rather replace these computers later, rather than sooner. "By the time we'd replace them, Windows 7 might be ready anyway," Killeen says. Until then, Windows XP will work just fine.

BusinessWeek names two other companies with the same mentality as GM: Alaska Airlines, and Transco Railway Products. It's difficult to actually measure what the majority of businesses are doing, but the fact that OEMs have gotten around the XP June 30 cutoff speaks for itself.

News like this is of course very unsettling for Microsoft, because the company recently released Vista SP1 and the usual rule of thumb for businesses has often been "wait till the first service pack before upgrading." The problem is, Microsoft soon after also released XP SP3, and some businesses likely figure that this update would be enough to get them through to the Windows 7 launch. Statements from Bill Gates about Windows 7's performance probably haven't helped either.